3rd SEP 2015 // LONDON // MEMORIES IN CONFLICT

MEMORIES IN CONFLICT // 62′ // (curator: Celia Turley)

THURSDAY 3rd September 2015 // 19.45 – 21.00 // Canada Water Culture Space, South-East London
TICKETS: bit.ly/InShortFF15Memories
Beneath the pomp and platitudes of commemoration, forgotten foot soldiers and inconsequential victims lie hidden, unacknowledged amongst the grand narratives of war. Spanning heady hallucinatory recollections, intimate eulogy and playful homage to a local hero, these 5 films redress the balance. From both celebrated artists and emerging new talent, we showcase stories which shine a light on the personal memories within the political drama of war.

Diary // Tim Hetherington // 19′ // Experimental // 2010 // UK
Diary expresses the subjective experience of Tim Hetherington’s work, made as the director admits, in “an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting.” A kaleidoscope of imagery which communicates the disjointed and displaced reality of a man stretched across different worlds, it is a powerful reminder of the sensitive and insightful sensibilities of Hetherington, who was tragically killed in Lybia in April 2011.
Thanks to Tim Hetherington Trust for allowing us to screen the film. www.timhetheringtontrust.org.

That Day In September // Karim Jaafar // 16′ // Drama // 2014 // Lebanon // UK PREMIERE
A beguiling drama that affectionately observes the friendship between a young Lebanese woman, Lina and her seamstress, who enchants the bride-to-be with chatter about Yazan, her kidnapped son. However, when Lina goes to collect a dress, she discovers that Yazan may not be all that he seems.

WTC Haikus // Jonas Mekas // 14′ // Art Video // 2001 // USA
A leading light of American avant-garde film, Lithuanian-American filmmaker Jonas Mekas has enthusiastically embraced online technology, releasing unfinished films, music and writing, with little more than an aim to share it with his friends. WTC Haikus was uploaded online on September 11, 2011, 10 years on from the World Trade Centre attacks, with a personal note: “Looking through my finished and unfinished films, I was surprised how many glimpses of the World Trade Center I caught during my life in SoHo. I had a feeling I was Hokusai glimpsing Mount Fuji. Only that it was the World Trade Center. The WTC was an inseparable part of my and my family’s life during my SoHo period from 1975-1995. This installation is my love poem to it.”

A bonus chapter from Cooking History // Peter Kerekes // 10′ // Documentary // 2009 // Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia // UK PREMIERE
Taken from Cooking History, a feature documentary portrait of different military cooks from all over Europe, this bonus chapter, tells the heartwarming story of Mr Stankovic, renowned in his neighbourhood for making the biggest hamburger in the world. When the Kosovo war broke out, Mr Stankovic volunteered for the army, and there he died. Speaking to friends, neighbours and family, their recollections tap into a subjective view of historical events: the little secrets that one won’t find in textbooks or archives.

Dear Hassan // Axel Salvatori Sinz // 4′ // Experimental // 2014 // France
Lost on a rain-soaked Parisian night, Axel Salvatori Sinz is trying to remember what Syria was like before the revolution. As he searches the streets, he also racks his subconscious to recall Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp, where his friend Hassan had lived. A touching message to a faraway friend.